GPS thinks I am in Germany (when I am in Shropshire!!!)

[DIYDave]

I have a 66 plate Mercedes E220d AMG Line Estate (W213 model). Very pleased with it and it’s a great tow car for my caravan. I have a problem with the Sat Nav - it thinks the car is in Germany but I live in Shropshire. I’ve taken it to my local independent garage and they didn’t seem that interested in fixing it (although they charged me labour). They seemed to think the fault is likely to be the GPS antennae which they say is inside the drivers side wing mirror housing. They suggested it would be a relatively cheap fix to buy a new GPS antenna and fit it myself. Just wondering if any of the forum members have done this before? Presumably I need to remove the mirror glass which hopefully will reveal the GPS antennae? Where will it plug into, somewhere in the mirror housing or will the cable disappear into the door? I don’t want to mess around taking the mirror glass off (& potentially breaking it) if its going to be a nightmare job, but equally if it’s a straightforward DIY fix then don’t want to pay main dealer labour charges. Any advice will be greatly appreciated. Thanks, David

 

[mioba]

is your local independent garage a mercedes specialist.
Did they scan the codes as a decent scanner will identify the problem.
Plenty of info on google - w213 gps antennae
You would need to remove the wing mirror (maybe door cards too to acess) as the wire needs feeding through the mirror and into some part of the car.
If you are not handy and your current garage dont seem interested, maybe better to let MB do it. last thing you want is some backstreet garage damaging something - at least with MB they will follow WIS.
your current garage seem rather unprofessional.

 

[rf065]

I had a similiar problem with my 66 plate C250, after returning from Santander to Plymouth on the ferry it thought I was in the Bay of Biscay, roughly 50 miles off the coast in and the sea.
From what I recall at the time, Mercedes said the GPS and COMAND caused the fault and reinstalled the software to fix it, no mention of any parts being fitted.

 

[sausage]

On my range rover I had a similar issue, so I bought a GPS aerial from ebay for £5 and plugged that in to the socket on the GPS unit and tested it.

Going a little further than just testing the replacement aerial: With the range rover a diagnostic screen was accessible via a "secret" set of buttons to push and a code, the diagnostic screen showed the connections and status of each satellite and whether there was a position fix or not.
The only things I needed were:
1) To know the right kind of connector for the £5 aerial.
2) Access to the GPS unit
3) To know how to access the diagnostics.

Once I proved the aerial was the source of the problem I had the correct replacement LR part fitted and the £5 aerial now sits in a drawer waiting for its next job. However, I could have used the £5 part instead of getting a OEM part, but i like my cars to be original.

 

[DIYDave]

Thanks for your replies. I think my main issue will be where to find the socket that the GPS antennae plugs into. Happy to buy a cheap GPS antennae & fit it myself, but would like to plug it in to test before I start taking the car apart.

 

[sausage]

Photos with what looks like a GPS unit, presumably that is a rear wheel arch in one of the photos: https://www.benzworld.org/threads/new-benz-owner-gps-not-picking-up-satellites.2753217/

Discussion of similar issue
https://forums.mercedesclub.org.uk/index.php?threads/another-faulty-w213-gps-antenna.185260/

I would suggest the thing to do is check in the rear sides of the car, check the manual for any information on location and then have a look see and look for the FAKRA connectors - bingo, plug the new one in, go for a drive and wait for a while.

GPS requires 5 or so satellites for a good fix, 3 minimum IIRC. It should keep a bank of about a dozen satellites in memory to connect to. It might take a little while to re-establish the connections.

Your cheap GPS Fakra aerial will need to be unimpeded to get a signal. Run the wide up and out of a sunroof or window. Make sure the aerial is the right way up for testing.

If you are near me you are welcome to come and have a loan of mine, and I can help out if needed. (Location in my profile).

 

[rayhennig]

it thinks the car is in Germany but I live in Shropshire.

It probably thinks that Hitler won the war.

R

 

[ajlsl600]

I have a 66 plate Mercedes E220d AMG Line Estate (W213 model). Very pleased with it and it’s a great tow car for my caravan. I have a problem with the Sat Nav - it thinks the car is in Germany but I live in Shropshire. I’ve taken it to my local independent garage and they didn’t seem that interested in fixing it (although they charged me labour). They seemed to think the fault is likely to be the GPS antennae which they say is inside the drivers side wing mirror housing. They suggested it would be a relatively cheap fix to buy a new GPS antenna and fit it myself. Just wondering if any of the forum members have done this before? Presumably I need to remove the mirror glass which hopefully will reveal the GPS antennae? Where will it plug into, somewhere in the mirror housing or will the cable disappear into the door? I don’t want to mess around taking the mirror glass off (& potentially breaking it) if its going to be a nightmare job, but equally if it’s a straightforward DIY fix then don’t want to pay main dealer labour charges. Any advice will be greatly appreciated. Thanks, David

Just as f well Lancaster never had GPS then. Modern shxxe

 

[ajlsl600]

N hope b1 don't have krout made GPS either

 

[rpalmeida]

GPS antenna is fed to both the COMAND and the Mercedes Me module - just do this properly and replace the GPS antenna that is in the mirror

Cheers

Richard

 

[Paul Garrett]

I not use my old sat navigation in car as its got a 2004 disc in it! Got a Tom Tom 520 3 yrs ago all good, did updates before holiday and it sending me the long mystery tour route? Did update again whilst on holiday, once again all seemed OK but ...oh what a surprise! It did it again!! Not sure what is going on with these things? Are they playing a sick joke? Or is it just my stupidity in handling modern tech? ....hmmmm jury's out on that one!! Hehe!!

 

[rayhennig]

My satnav was set to the post code for PCS in Horndean. It did a fine job of sending me up the A3 to within 2 minutes of PCS.

Then it sent me down the A3.

And, at the next junction, it sent me up the A3.

And so the long day would have continued had I not used good old fashioned chat-nav and asked someone.

RayH